The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) awarded its “Excellence in Care Dementia Program of Distinction” status to Encore, part of The Birches Assisted Living located at 215 55^th St., Clarendon Hills. Nationally, only a select number of assisted living facilities have achieved AFA’s standard of excellence for facilities that provide care to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or related illnesses. 

The Birches Assisted Living provides care to 32 residents living in its memory care unit which is called Encore. Jackie Raschke of Brookfield is Encore’s director of Encore and Dementia Services.

“It is such an honor to receive this designation,” Raschke said. “We educate ourselves in as many things that are offered out there to create the best place for our residents.”

The Birches Assisted Living utilizes the Montessori Method of engaging individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia in non-failure activities. Cameron Camp, a senior research scientist at the forefront of examining the usage of the Montessori Method with individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, has found that this philosophy reduces agitation, aimless wandering and loss of attention, and changes the way people with the brain disorder feel about themselves.

“There is no right or wrong in a Montessori activity” Raschke said. “The goal is to engage, not correct. The activities are planned to match the person’s abilities so that the activity is challenging enough to be interesting and straightforward enough to be successful.”

“The Birches Assisted Living, including our Encore program for memory care, is a place to live, not to die,” said James K. Curto, executive director of The Birches Assisted Living. “We strive to lead the way with world-class living for our residents who live with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias.”

Excellence in Care

Excellence in Care is the first national program involving comprehensive standards, on-site evaluation and consultation to promote continual performance improvement for dementia care settings, such as assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, continuum of care residential communities, and adult day programs.

AFA’s 50 Excellence in Care specialists in various regions of the U.S. conducted on-site evaluations, which assessed a setting’s physical environment, safety procedures, program activities, staff-client interaction, and dementia care training for staff and families.

“Excellence in Care makes a bold statement which reaffirms the quality of care these dementia care settings provide and encourage other settings nationwide to reach for this standard of excellence,” said Eric J. Hall, AFA’s chief executive officer.

The groundbreaking Excellence in Care initiative was designed with input from the Avila Institute of Gerontology, an AFA member organization, as well as other AFA member agencies, national organizations and industry experts.

For more information about Encore at The Birches Assisted Living, visit http://www.birches.net or call 630-789-1135, or for more information about Excellence in Care, visit http://www.excellenceincare.org or call 866-AFA-8484.

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